Semiconductor device including a TFT having large-grain polycrystalline active layer, LCD employing the same and method of fabricating them

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor device has a thin film transistor including an insulating substrate, an island made of a polycrystalline semiconductor material and disposed on the insulating substrate, a conductive layer made of the polycrystalline semiconductor material and at least one of metals and metallic silicides and surrounding the island, a source region and a drain region spaced from the source region, the source region and the drain region being formed in said island, a gate electrode disposed on the island with an insulating film interposed between the island and the gate electrode, the gate facing a spacing between the source region and the drain region. The polycrystalline semiconductor material forming the island and the conductive layer are fabricated by initially annealing a first amorphous semiconductor material deposited on the insulating substrate with a crystallization-inducing layer made of the at least one of metals and metallic silicides and having a hole corresponding to the island, the crystallization-inducing layer being disposed on a surface of the amorphous semiconductor material on at least one of a substrate side thereof and a side thereof opposite from the substrate side, and then by depositing a second amorphous semiconductor material on the first amorphous semiconductor and annealing the second amorphous semiconductor material.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, a liquidcrystal display device (hereinafter referred to as a liquid crystaldisplay device) employing the semiconductor device and methods offabricating the semiconductor device and the liquid crystal displaydevice, and in particular to techniques of fabricating a thin filmtransistor (hereinafter referred to as a TFT) comprising apolycrystalline semiconductor on an insulating substrate.

There is a technique for fabricating peripheral circuits such as adriver circuit for driving pixels and a control circuit for controllingthe driver circuit at the periphery of an insulating substrate on whichpixels are fabricated in a liquid crystal display panel, for example.

The process for fabricating a polycrystalline Si TFT (hereinafterreferred to as a p-Si TFT) of the peripheral circuits is intrinsically ahot-temperature process, but a low-temperature process for it isrealized by using a process explained below.

The low-temperature process comprises formation of an amorphous silicon(hereinafter referred to as an a-Si) film, conversion of the a-Si filminto a polycrystalline film by irradiation of excimer laser, formationof a gate insulating oxide film by plasma CVD or the like, formation ofa gate electrode made of a metal or a metallic silicide by a sputteringmethod or the like, formation of source and drain regions by ion dopingor ion implantation, and then ion activation by laser annealing.

The above crystallization of an a-Si film by excimer laser uses aphenomenon that irradiation of a UV light pulse of about 20 ns melts thea-Si film and then crystallization occurs as the a-Si film cools.

But with the conventional method, it is very difficult to control thegrain sizes, orientations and positions of crystals in thepolycrystalline film because of fast crystallization and non-equilibriumprocess.

The larger the grain sizes are, the better the performance of the p-SiTFT becomes, but the wider the spread in the grain sizes becomes andconsequently the wider the variability of TFT characteristics becomes.

If the grain sizes are selected to be sufficiently smaller than thelength of a channel of TFTs, the variability of the TFT characteristicsbecomes smaller, but the TFT characteristics are degraded.

The p-Si TFTs of the peripheral circuits in the liquid crystal panel areof the so-called SOI (Silicon-On-Insulator) type using an insulatingsubstrate such as a glass substrate and are not capable of establishinga substrate potential, and consequently an adverse effect such as aprojection called a “kink” occurs in a current-voltage characteristiccurve especially of the p-Si TFT constituting the high-performanceperipheral circuits.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductordevice or an LCD provided with TFTs having a polycrystalline filmuniform in orientation of crystalline grains and containing few unwantedimpurities introduced in grain boundaries (hereinafter referred tomerely as grain boundary impurities) and a channel region of the TFTsformed of a polycrystalline film comprising a small number of crystalgrains each having a diameter larger than a length of a channel of theTFTs and each having a grain boundary thereof aligned parallel with asource-drain direction of the TFTs.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an LCD having aliquid crystal display panel provided with a peripheral circuit formedon a substrate of the liquid crystal display panel wherein TFTsconstituting at least the peripheral circuit have a polycrystalline filmuniform in orientation of crystalline grains in a plane parallel with amajor surface of the substrate and containing few grain boundaryimpurities and a channel region of the TFTs formed of a polycrystallinefilm comprising a small number of crystal grains each having a diameterlarger than a length of a channel of the TFTs and each having a grainboundary thereof aligned parallel with a source-drain direction.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a semiconductordevice or an LCD having TFTs provided with a polycrystalline conductivelayer in contact with a polycrystalline semiconductor layer forming anactive area of each of the TFTs such that a potential of a substrate onwhich the TFTs are formed is established by the polycrystallineconductive layer.

To accomplish the above objects, in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present invention, there is provided a semiconductor device having athin film transistor comprising: an insulating substrate, an island madeof a polycrystalline semiconductor material and disposed on saidinsulating substrate, a conductive layer made of said polycrystallinesemiconductor material and at least one of metals and metallic silicidesand surrounding said island, a source region and a drain region spacedfrom said source region, said source region and said drain region beingformed in said island, a gate electrode disposed on said island with aninsulating film interposed between said island and said gate electrode,said gate facing a spacing between said source region and said drainregion, wherein said polycrystalline semiconductor material forming saidisland and said conductive layer are fabricated by initially annealing afirst amorphous semiconductor material deposited on said insulatingsubstrate with a crystallization-inducing layer made of said at leastone of metals and metallic silicides and having a hole corresponding tosaid island, said crystallization-inducing layer being disposed on asurface of said amorphous semiconductor material on at least one of asubstrate side thereof and a side thereof opposite from said substrateside, and then by depositing a second amorphous semiconductor materialon said first amorphous semiconductor and annealing said secondamorphous semiconductor material.

To accomplish the above objects, in accordance with another embodimentof the present invention, there is provided a liquid crystal displaydevice having a liquid crystal panel comprising a pair of insulatingsubstrates, a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between said pair ofinsulating substrates, a plurality of pixels formed between said pair ofinsulating substrates and a peripheral circuit for driving saidplurality of pixels and disposed at a periphery of at least one of saidpair of insulating substrates, said peripheral circuit including a thinfilm transistor comprising: an insulating substrate, an island made of apolycrystalline semiconductor material and disposed on said insulatingsubstrate, a conductive layer made of said polycrystalline semiconductormaterial and at least one of metals and metallic silicides andsurrounding said island, a source region and a drain region spaced fromsaid source region, said source region and said drain region beingformed in said island, a gate electrode disposed on said island with aninsulating film interposed between said island and said gate electrode,said gate facing a spacing between said source region and said drainregion, wherein said polycrystalline semiconductor material forming saidisland and said conductive layer are fabricated by initially annealing afirst amorphous semiconductor material deposited on said insulatingsubstrate with a crystallization-inducing layer made of said at leastone of metals and metallic suicides and having a hole corresponding tosaid island, said crystallization-inducing layer being disposed on asurface of said amorphous semiconductor material on at least one of asubstrate side thereof and a side thereof opposite from said substrateside, and then by depositing a second amorphous semiconductor materialon said first amorphous semiconductor and annealing said secondamorphous semiconductor material.

To accomplish the above objects, in accordance with another embodimentof the present invention, there is provided a method of fabricating asemiconductor device including the steps of: depositing a firstamorphous semiconductor film on an insulating substrate, depositing atleast one layer of one of metals and metallic silicides on said firstamorphous semiconductor film, opening a hole in said at least one layerof one of metals and metallic silicides at a predetermined positionthereof, then heat-annealing said first amorphous semiconductor film andsaid at least one layer of one of metals and metallic silicides suchthat said one of metals and metallic silicides is absorbed into saidfirst amorphous semiconductor film and said first amorphoussemiconductor film is crystallized, then depositing a second amorphoussemiconductor film on said at least one layer of one of metals andmetallic suicides and said first amorphous semiconductor film,irradiating laser onto said second amorphous semiconductor film tocrystallize said second amorphous semiconductor film, and then formingan active element of said semiconductor device in a region of saidcrystallized semiconductor film corresponding to said hole.

To accomplish the above objects, in accordance with another embodimentof the present invention, there is provided a method of fabricating asemiconductor device including the steps of: depositing at least onelayer of one of metals and metallic silicides on an insulatingsubstrate, opening a hole in said at least one layer of one of metalsand metallic silicides at a predetermined position thereof, thendepositing a first amorphous semiconductor film on said at least onelayer of one of metals and metallic silicides and said insulatingsubstrate, then heat-annealing said first amorphous semiconductor filmand said at least one layer of one of metals and metallic silicides suchthat said one of metals and metallic silicides is absorbed into saidfirst amorphous semiconductor film and said first amorphoussemiconductor film is crystallized, then depositing a second amorphoussemiconductor film on said first amorphous semiconductor film,irradiating laser onto said second amorphous semiconductor film tocrystallize said second amorphous semiconductor film, and then formingan active element of said semiconductor device in a region of saidcrystallized semiconductor film corresponding to said hole.

To accomplish the above objects, in accordance with another embodimentof the present invention, there is provided a method of fabricating aliquid crystal display device having a liquid crystal panel comprising apair of insulating substrates, a liquid crystal layer sandwiched betweensaid pair of insulating substrates, a plurality of pixels formed betweensaid pair of insulating substrates and a peripheral circuit for drivingsaid plurality of pixels and disposed at a periphery of at least one ofsaid pair of insulating substrates including the steps of: depositing afirst amorphous semiconductor film on said periphery of said at leastone of said pair of insulating substrates, depositing at least one layerof one of metals and metallic silicides on said first amorphoussemiconductor film, opening a plurality of holes in said at least onelayer of one of metals and metallic silicides at predetermined positionsthereof, then heat-annealing said first amorphous semiconductor film andsaid at least one layer of one of metals and metallic silicides suchthat said one of metals and metallic silicides is absorbed into saidfirst amorphous semiconductor film and said first amorphoussemiconductor film is crystallized, then depositing a second amorphoussemiconductor film on said at least one layer of one of metals andmetallic silicides and said first amorphous semiconductor film,irradiating laser onto said second amorphous semiconductor film tocrystallize said second amorphous semiconductor film, and then formingan active element of a semiconductor device constituting said peripheralcircuit in a region of said crystallized semiconductor filmcorresponding to each of said plurality of holes.

To accomplish the above objects, in accordance with another embodimentof the present invention, there is provided a method of fabricating aliquid crystal display device having a liquid crystal panel comprising apair of insulating substrates, a liquid crystal layer sandwiched betweensaid pair of insulating substrates, a plurality of pixels formed betweensaid pair of insulating substrates and a peripheral circuit for drivingsaid plurality of pixels and disposed at a periphery of at least one ofsaid pair of insulating substrates including the steps of: depositing atleast one layer of one of metals and metallic silicides on saidperiphery of said at least one of said pair of insulating substrates,opening a plurality of holes in said at least one layer of one of metalsand metallic silicides at predetermined positions thereof, depositing afirst amorphous semiconductor film on said at least one layer of one ofmetals and metallic silicides and into said plurality of holes, thenheat-annealing said first amorphous semiconductor film and said at leastone layer of one of metals and metallic silicides such that said one ofmetals and metallic silicides is absorbed into said first amorphoussemiconductor film and said first amorphous semiconductor film iscrystallized, then depositing a second amorphous semiconductor film onsaid first amorphous semiconductor film, irradiating laser onto saidsecond amorphous semiconductor film to crystallize said second amorphoussemiconductor film, and then forming an active element of asemiconductor device constituting said peripheral circuit in a region ofsaid crystallized semiconductor film corresponding to each of saidplurality of holes.

To accomplish the above objects, in accordance with another embodimentof the present invention, there is provided a method of fabricating aliquid crystal display device having a liquid crystal panel comprising apair of insulating substrates, a liquid crystal layer sandwiched betweensaid pair of insulating substrates, a plurality of pixels formed betweensaid pair of insulating substrates and a peripheral circuit for drivingsaid plurality of pixels and disposed at a periphery of at least one ofsaid pair of insulating substrates including the steps of: depositing afirst crystallization-inducing layer comprising at least one layer ofone of metals and metallic silicides on said periphery of said at leastone of said pair of insulating substrates, opening a first plurality ofholes in said first crystallization-inducing layer at predeterminedpositions thereof, depositing a first amorphous semiconductor film onsaid first crystallization-inducing layer and into said first pluralityof holes, depositing a second crystallization-inducing layer comprisingat least one layer of one of metals and metallic silicides on said firstamorphous semiconductor film, opening a second plurality of holes insaid second crystallization-inducing layer, said plurality of holes eachbeing disposed over said first plurality of holes, respectively, thenheat-annealing said first amorphous semiconductor film and said firstand second crystallization-inducing layers such that said ones of metalsand metallic silicides in said first and second crystallization-inducinglayers, respectively, are absorbed into said first amorphoussemiconductor film and said first amorphous semiconductor film iscrystallized, then depositing a second amorphous semiconductor film onsaid first amorphous semiconductor film and said secondcrystallization-inducing layer, irradiating laser onto said secondamorphous semiconductor film to crystallize said second amorphoussemiconductor film, and then forming an active element of asemiconductor device constituting said peripheral circuit in a region ofsaid crystallized semiconductor film corresponding to each of saidsecond plurality of holes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals designatesimilar components throughout the figures, and in which:

FIG. 1A is a schematic cross-sectional view of a basic structure of ap-Si TFT in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, andFIG. 1B is a plan view of the p-Si TFT of FIG. 1A with its gateinsulating film and gate electrode removed;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view illustrating the arrangement of the p-SiTFTS of FIG.1A;

FIGS. 3A-1 to 3A-3 and 3B-1 to 3B-3 are illustrations of the principlesof converting an a-Si film into a p-Si film with low-density energy andhigh-density energy, respectively;

FIGS. 4A to 4D are cross-sectional views of a film in the process stepsfor fabricating a large grain-size p-Si film by using the principles ofthe MIC and the MILC to producing nucleuses;

FIGS. 5A to 5C are illustrations for explaining an intensitydistribution of excimer laser in the fabrication of p-Si TFTs, FIG. 5Abeing a plan view of the arrangement of p-Si islands fabricated on aninsulating substrate, FIG. 5B being an ideal illuminating intensitydistribution of laser and FIG. 5C being a transmission distribution of amultilayer dielectric mask;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are illustrations for explaining a basic structure of amask for laser illumination in the fabrication of a peripheral circuitfor a liquid crystal display panel, FIG. 6A being a schematic plan viewof the mask and FIG. 6B being a transmission distribution of the mask;

FIGS. 7A to 7D are cross-sectional views of a film in the alternativeprocess steps for fabricating a large grain-size p-Si film by using theprinciples of the MIC and the MILC to producing nucleuses;

FIGS. 8A to 8F are cross-sectional views of a film in the process stepsfor fabricating a p-Si TFT in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 9A to 9F are cross-sectional views of a film in the process stepsfor fabricating a p-Si TFT in accordance with another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 10A to 10C are cross-sectional views of a film in the processsteps for fabricating a p-si TFT in accordance with another embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a driver circuit constituting a peripheralcircuit of a liquid crystal display panel;

FIGS. 12A and 12B are block diagrams of a source driver of FIG. 11corresponding to one bit of data, respectively, FIG. 12A being a blockdiagram of a digital driver and FIG. 12B being a block diagram of ananalog driver;

FIG. 13 is a plan view of essential portions of one pixel and itsvicinities of an active matrix and vertical-field type color liquidcrystal display panel to which the present invention is applicable;

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of one pixel and it s vicinities ofFIG. 13 taken along line XIV—XIV;

FIG. 15 is an exploded perspective view of a liquid crystal displaymodule to which the present invention is applicable; and

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a notebook personal computer or a wordprocess or incorporating the liquid crystal display module of FIG. 15.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detailwith reference to the accompanying drawings, in the several figures ofwhich like reference numerals designate corresponding elements, andrepetition of explanation of the corresponding elements is omitted.

In the following embodiments, the present invention is applied to p-SiTFTs in a peripheral circuit formed on a substrate of a liquid crystaldisplay panel for driving pixels of the liquid crystal display panel,but the present invention is not limited to this application.

FIG. 1A is a schematic cross-sectional view of a basic structure of ap-Si TFT 100, an embodiment of the present invention, after contactholes having been opened for source and drain electrode connections.

In FIG. 1A, reference numeral 3 denotes an insulating substrate made oftransparent glass, 8 is a buffer layer made of silicon oxide (SiO₂) anddeposited on the substrate 3, 1 is an island (hereinafter referred to asa P-Si island) made of a polycrystalline silicon film (hereinafterreferred to as a p-Si film), 2 is a conductive film which contacts thep-Si film 1 and crystal orientations of which are uniform in planesparallel with the major surface of the substrate, 5 is a gate insulatingfilm made of SiO₂, 4 is a gate electrode made of metal or metallicsilicide, 6 and 7 are source and drain regions, respectively, and 9 and10 are contact holes for source and drain electrode connections,respectively.

FIG. 1B is a plan view of the p-Si TFT 100 of FIG. 1A with the gateinsulating film 5 and the gate electrode 4 removed. The gate electrode 4is indicated by broken lines in FIG. 1B. The channel region 101 is aregion interposed between the source region 6 and the drain region 7.

Numerical examples of the p-Si TFTs for the peripheral circuit are:

Channel width=3-20 μm, channel length=1-5 μm, and numerical examples ofthe p-Si TFTs for the pixel switching circuit are:

Channel width =4-10 μm, channel length =3-5 μm.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of an arrangement of p-Si TFTs 100 ofFIG. 1A. In FIG. 2, reference 1 denote p-Si islands, 2 is the conductivefilm which contacts the p-Si films 1 and crystal orientations of whichare uniform in planes parallel with the major surface of the substrate,and 4 are gate electrodes.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the p-Si TFT 100 of this embodiment comprises thep-Si island 1 formed on the insulating substrate 3 with the buffer layer8 therebetween, the conductive film 2 which contacts the p-Si island 1and crystal orientations of which are uniform in planes parallel withthe major surface of the substrate, the gate insulating film 5 formedover the p-Si island 1, the gate electrode 4 formed over the p-Si island1 with the gate insulating film 5 interposed therebetween, the sourceand drain regions 6, 7 disposed in the p-Si island 1 on opposite sidesof the gate electrode 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, the conductive layer 2 is formed with atwo-dimensional rectangular array of openings each for forming the p-Siisland 1 of the p-Si TFT 100.

As indicated by broken lines in FIG. 1B, the sizes of the crystallinegrains in the channel region are at least 3 μm in the TFTs of theperipheral circuit for driving the pixels. The channel region of theTFTs comprised of a small number (three, for example, as illustrated inFIG. 1B) of the polycrystalline grains the sizes of which are greaterthan the channel length L of the TFTs and the grain boundaries of whichare parallel to the direction of the channel length L. A single grainextends a distance of at least 0.5 μm outwardly from both edges of thegate electrode 4.

On the other hand, the TFTs for switching pixels need not provide suchhigh performance as the TFTs for the peripheral circuits, andconsequently plural crystalline grains of an approximately equal size ina range of 0.05 μm to 0.3 μm suffice for the TFTs for switching pixels.

The source and drain regions 6, 7 are a pair of impurity-introducedregions of N-type or P-type conductivity which are formed by ion-dopingor ion-implanting the p-Si island 1 to a depth less than the thicknessof the p-Si island 1 and then ion-activating by laser annealing.Although not shown in FIG. 1A, the source and drain regions 6,7 canemploy the known LDD (Lightly Doped Drain) structure comprising alightly doped region and a heavily doped region or the offset gatestructure where the source and drain regions are offset from the edgesof the gate electrode, respectively, if necessary.

FIGS. 3A-1 to 3A-3 and FIGS. 3B-1 to 3B-3 illustrate the principle ofthe crystallization process from an a-Si film into a p-Si film bylow-density energy irradiation and high-density energy irradiation,respectively. FIGS. 3A-1 and 3B-1 are schematic cross-sectional views ofthe films in a process of forming crystalline nucleuses by melting andcooling, FIGS. 3A-2 and 3B-2 are schematic cross-sectional views of thefilms in a process of growth from the crystalline nucleuses, and FIGS.3A-3 and 3B-3 are schematic cross-sectional views of the films forillustrating a final distribution of grain sizes.

In FIGS. 3A-1 to 3A-3 and FIGS. 3B-1 to 3B-3, reference numeral 3denotes the insulating substrate, 11 is the a-Si film formed on theinsulating film 3, 13 is excimer laser light, 12 a and 12 b arenucleuses for the crystalline growth, and 1 a and 1 b are the p-Sifilms.

A common method of forming the p-Si film by a low-temperature processcomprises irradiation of the excimer laser light onto the a-Si film tomelt to it and crystallization in the liquid phase of the melt as thefilm cools. A model of this low-temperature process is illustrated inFIGS. 3A-1 to 3A-3 and FIGS. 3B-1 to 3B-3.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3A-1 and 3B-1, by irradiation of the excimerlaser 13, the a-Si film 11 starts to melt from its surface and melts toa depth contacting the surface of the substrate 3.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3A-2 and 3B-2, in the subsequent process ofcooling, nucleuses 12 a, 12 b are produced in the a-Si film 11 mostly atthe interfaces between the substrate 3 and the a-Si film 11 and thengrow to form the p-Si films 1 a, 1 b as illustrated in FIGS. 3A-3 and3B-3, respectively.

When the density of irradiation energy is small, a large number ofnucleuses 12 a are produced as shown in FIG. 3A-2, grow in a directionof the thickness of the film, i.e. in a vertical direction, and finallyform the p-Si film la composed of small grains as shown in FIG. 3A-3.

On the other hand, when the density of irradiation energy is large, asmall number of nucleuses 12 b are produced as shown in FIG. 3B-2, growboth vertically and laterally at the same time, and finally form thep-Si film 1 b composed of large grains as shown in FIG. 3B-3.

As described above, the larger the grain sizes in the p-Si film are, thebetter the performance of the p-Si TFT becomes, and therefore it is theultimate object to form the active elements of the peripheral circuit ofthe liquid crystal display panel in a single crystal.

There is a limit to the grain sizes enlarged by simply adjusting thelaser irradiation conditions for crystallization and the positions ofcrystalline grain formation cannot be controlled.

To control the positions of crystalline grain formation and enlarge thegrain sizes, it is necessary to initially form nucleuses atpredetermined positions and then grow the nucleuses laterally. Basedupon this concept, various methods have been proposed. An SLS methodproposed by J. S. Im et al. (R. S. Sposili and J. S. Im: “Sequentiallateral solidification of thin films on SiO₂”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 69(19),Nov. 4, 1996, pp. 2864-2866) and a method of irradiating through aphase-shift mask proposed by M. Matsumura et al. (C. H. Oh and M.Matsumura: “Preparation of Position-Controlled Crystal-Silicon IslandArrays”, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. Vol. 37 (1998) pp. 5474-5479) realizerelatively large grain sizes for the present.

Both the two methods perform the formation of nucleuses and theirlateral growth differently, but they do not control the sizes or theorientation of nucleuses. There are problems with the two methods inthat, in the lateral growth, the growth speed is slow and the area ofcrystallization is small, due to limitation to an irradiationlight-distribution.

The embodiment of the present invention employs methods of growingcrystals known as Metal Induced Crystallization (sometimes hereafterreferred to as MIC) and Metal Induced Lateral Crystallization (sometimeshereafter referred to as MILC), and control the nucleation, and solvesthe problem with the lateral growth by using excimer laser.

In the process of MIC, a thin metal film made of Au, Al, Sb, In, Pd, Ti,Ni or the like is disposed on the topside or underside of the a-Si filmand thermally annealed, and consequently the transition temperature froma-Si to c-Si (crystalline Si) which is normally 600° C. is lowered dueto the presence of the thin metal film such that crystallizationproceeds at a temperature lower than 600° C.

The mechanism of the above process has not been fully understood yet. Inthe case of four metals, Au, Al, Sb and In, it is thought that siliconis transported from the amorphous phase to the crystalline phase via themetal compound containing silicon due to difference between solubilityof the metal into the a-Si in the compound of the metal and the a-Si andsolubility of the metal into the c-Si in the compound of the metal andthe c-Si (see E. Nygren, et. al, Appl. Phys. Lett. 52(6) pp.439-441(1988) for further detail). On the other hand, in the case of Pd,Ti and Ni, it is thought that the growth from the a-Si phase into thec-Si phase occurs via formation of silicide (see C. Hayzelden and J. L.Batstone, J. Appl. Phys. 73(12) pp. 8279-8289(1993) for further detail).

The metal induced crystallization (MIC) occurs in a region in contactwith the thin metal film in the process of forming crystalline nucleusesassisted by the metal. It is observed that lateral crystalline growthoccurs in a region not covered with the thin metal film, and thisphenomenon is so-called metal induced lateral crystallization (MILC). Inthis method, although the growth speed of the p-Si film depends uponprocess conditions and material, it is on the order of μm per hour, veryfast compared with usual solid-phase growth and this method provideslarge grains and aligns orientations of crystalline grains well enoughin planes parallel with the major surface of the substrate (seeSeok-Woon Lee, et. al, Appl. Phys. Lett. 66(13) pp. 1671-1673(1995) forfurther detail).

FIGS. 4A-4D are cross-sectional views of the film for explaining theprinciple of the formation of the p-Si film composed of large grains byproducing nucleuses using the MIC and MILC methods.

Initially, as shown in FIG. 4A, a first a-Si thin film 11 is formed on asubstrate 3, a metal film 14 serving as an undercoating film isdeposited on the first a-Si thin film and then an opening 15 is made inthe metal film 14 at a position corresponding to a p-Si island to beformed later by using a photolithography technique.

Then thermal annealing is performed at a low temperature (lower than600° C.) insufficient to cause the transformation from the a-Si to thep-Si by using the MIC and MILC methods. In FIG. 4A, broken line indicatethe edge of the p-Si island 1 (see FIG. 1A) to be fabricatedsubsequently. The a-Si film 11 under the metal film 14 is transformedinto the p-Si film 16 (during this process the metal film 14 is absorbedby the p-Si film 16), and then the lateral growth of the crystallinegrains, i.e. the above-explained MILC occurs in the region notoriginally covered with the metal film 14. Reference numeral 17 in FIG.4B designate large crystalline grains produced by the MILC method.

It is desirable that the thickness of the metal film 14 is selected tobe such a value that the metal film 14 is absorbed completely by thea-Si film within a thermal annealing time required for the lateralcrystalline growth of at least 0.5 μm in length, but the metal film 14need not necessarily be absorbed completely.

Even after the metal film 14 has been absorbed completely by the a-Sifilm, the portion of the film 11 at the center of the opening 15 remainsthe a-Si film as shown in FIG. 4B, and a single crystalline grain orlarge crystalline grains 17 having their orientations aligned parallelwith each other in planes parallel with the major surface of thesubstrate are produced in contact with the a-Si film at the center.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4C, a second a-Si film 18 is deposited over theentire area and irradiation of excimer laser (not shown) onto the a-Sifilm 18 crystallizes the a-Si film 18 according to the state ofcrystallization of the p-Si film 16 underlying the a-Si film 18 andserving as the undercoating film as shown in FIG. 4D. Especially in aportion of the a-Si film in proximity to large crystalline grains (asindicated by reference numeral 17, for example) large crystalline grainsare formed aligned with the large crystalline grains. Reference numeral1 denotes a p-Si film composed of large crystalline grains.

In this embodiment, it is desirable to transform a portion intended fora channel region of the TFT into a single crystal, but even if theregion is divided by grain boundaries, when the number of the grains issmall and the directions of the grain boundaries are parallel with theflowing direction of electric current, the TFT performance is expectedto be approximately the same as that obtained with the single crystal.To fabricate such a grain structure, an area irradiated by laser ismoved over the film such that crystallization proceeds from a regionintended for one of drain and source regions toward a region intended toface a gate electrode or such that crystallization proceeds from aregion intended for one of drain and source regions through the regionintended to face the gate electrode toward a region intended for theother of the source and drain regions.

Then the unnecessary portion 21 of the p-Si film is removed by using thephotolithography technique to form the p-Si island 1 indicated by brokenlines in FIGS. 4A and 4B (see FIG. 1A also). There is retained aconductive layer made of the Si film and the metal absorbed therein andhaving its crystalline orientations aligned parallel with each other inthe planes parallel with the major surface of the substrate, in order tobe used for establishing a substrate potential.

To obtain a crystalline grain of at least 10 μm in size which is apractical length for transistors, it is necessary to utilize diffusionof material by thermal gradient. There are a number of methods proposedfor performing this by using laser irradiation, one of which will beexplained by reference to FIGS. 5A-5C. FIGS. 5A-5C are illustrations forexplaining an intensity distribution of excimer laser irradiation forformation of the p-Si TFT 100. FIG. 5A is a plan view of an arrangementof the p-Si islands 1 formed on the insulating substrate 3 (not shown)and the conductive layer 2 disposed in contact with the p-Si islands 1,and in FIG. 5A the gate electrodes 4 are indicated by broken lines tofacilitate understanding. FIG. 5B illustrates an ideal intensitydistribution of laser irradiation, and FIG. 5C illustrates adistribution of light transmission of a mask comprised of pluraldielectric films.

As shown in FIG. 5B, the ideal intensity distribution of laserirradiation is such that the irradiation extends wider than the width ofa portion intended for one transistor in a direction of crystallinegrowth (a direction of the long sides of the p-Si islands 1 of FIG. 5A),but does not extend to adjacent portions intended for transistors.

In practice, it is difficult to obtain the linear intensity distributionof laser irradiation for individual transistors as shown in FIG. 5B,consequently it is practically useful to use a mask obtained byfabricating plural dielectric layers in the form of steps, and FIG. 5Cshows an example of the intensity distribution of such a mask.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are illustrations for explaining a basic structure ofthe irradiation mask for fabrication of the peripheral circuit portionof the liquid crystal display panel, FIG. 6A is a schematic plan view ofthe mask having a dielectric multilayer portion for reflecting (i.e.blocking) laser light, and FIG. 6B illustrates a difference intransmission between the transmissive and non-transmissive portions ofthe dielectric multilayer films. In FIG. 6A, reference 20 denotes themask and 19 is the laser-reflecting portion of the dielectric mask.

The p-Si TFTs in the liquid crystal display panel is of the so-calledSOI structure fabricated on the insulating substrate such as glass. Asexplained above, the potential of the substrate cannot be established bythe substrate itself unlike Si LSIs because the substrate is aninsulator, and the greatest problem that arises due to this is that abreakdown voltage between the source and drain regions is lowered. Thisis because holes generated by high electric fields present in thevicinity of the drain region are accumulated in the lower portion of thechannel and cause a parasitic bipolar transistor to be turned on. Thisproblem is solved by disposing a conductive film on the substrate andestablishing the substrate potential, but the parasitic capacitanceincreases to such a great extent that desired TFT characteristics arenot obtained.

Especially the SOI structure has a reduced parasitic capacitance and aninsulating substrate, and consequently provides excellentcharacteristics such as high speed operation, low power consumption andhigh breakdown voltages. But this useful structure produces the problemof lowering the source-drain breakdown voltage.

The above-mentioned disposition of the conductive film on the substrateis such that the charges accumulated at the interface with the substrateare extracted by the conductive layer 2 disposed in contact with theabove-explained electrode structure, i.e. the p-Si islands 1 and havingits crystalline orientations aligned to eliminate causes of unstableoperation. This structure is known as the field shield in theconventional SOI structure (Proc. of 5th Int'l Symp. on SOI Tech. andDevices, Vol. 92-13, p64 (1992). In this embodiment, the undercoatingfilm used for the MIC and MILC processes is remaining even during theprocess of laser crystallization. The accumulated charges are extractedmore efficiently from the central portion of the channel as well as theends of the source and drain regions compared with the conventionalstructures, though resistance of these regions is very high because of asmall amount of the metal in these regions.

Instead of disposing the metal film 14 on the top surface of the a-Sifilm 11 as shown in FIG. 4A, the metal film 14 can be disposed under thea-Si film 11 as shown in FIG. 7A. The process steps following the stepshown in FIG. 7A are similar to those in the case where the metal film14 is disposed on the top surface of the a-Si film 11, as shown in FIGS.7B-7D.

Instead of the metal film, a film made of metallic silicides such astitanium silicide, tungsten silicide or molybdenum silicide can be usedin this embodiment.

A fabrication process in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention will be explained by reference to FIGS. 8A-8F.

Initially, as shown in FIG. 8A, a buffer layer 8 made of SiO₂ is formedon the insulating substrate 3 made of glass, then the a-Si film 11 of 20nm at the most in thickness is formed on the buffer layer 8 by a plasmaCVD method, and is heated at 450° C. for at least 30 minutes to reducethe amount of hydrogen contained in the a-Si film to 1 atomic % at themost.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8B, at least one layer 14 made of metals such asW, Au, Al, Sb, In, Pd, Ti or Ni or silicides of those metals is formedon the a-Si film 11 by a sputtering method, and is formed with atwo-dimensional rectangular array of openings (slits) 15 eachcorresponding to a TFT region by a photolithography technique.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8C, the a-Si film 11 is thermally annealed at atemperature equal to or less than 600° C. to transform the a-Si film 11into the p-Si film by solid-phase growth. Initially the a-Si film 11underlying the film 14 is transformed into the p-Si film 16 (during thisprocess the film 14 is absorbed by the p-Si film 16), and then thelateral growth of crystalline grains, i.e. the above-described MILCoccurs in the region not covered with the film 14. Reference numeral 17denotes large crystalline grains produced by the MILC.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8D, another a-Si film 18 of at least 20 nm inthickness is formed on the film formed as shown in FIG. 8C by a plasmaCVD method, and then is heated at 450° C. for at least 30 minutes toreduce the amount of hydrogen contained in the a-Si film to 1 atomic %at the most.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8E, XeCl excimer laser of 308 nm in wavelength orKrF excimer laser of 248 nm in wavelength (not shown) is irradiated ontothe a-Si film 18 to transform the a-Si film 18 into the p-Si film toform a region corresponding to the p-Si island 1.

Then the p-Si film 21 surrounding the p-Si island 1 is removed by aphotolithography technique to provide the shape as shown in FIG. 8F.

Then the thus obtained p-Si island 1 is processed to complete the p-SiTFT 100 shown in FIG. 1A by using known techniques. The p-Si film 16 inFIG. 8F corresponds to the conductive film 2 in FIG. 1A.

In the above-explained method, the metal film having the openings aredisposed over the a-Si film formed on the substrate, but in analternative method the a-Si film can be formed over the metal filmhaving the openings and initially formed on the substrate. The followingexplains this alternative method.

Initially, as shown in FIG. 9A, a buffer layer 8 made of SiO₂ is formedon the insulating substrate 3 made of glass, then at least one layer 14made of metals such as W, Au, Al, Sb, In, Pd, Ti or Ni or silicides ofthose metals is formed on the buffer layer 8 by a sputtering method, andthen is formed with a two-dimensional rectangular array of openings(slits) 15 each corresponding to a TFT region by a photolithographytechnique.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9B, the a-Si film 11 of 20 nm at the most inthickness is formed on the substrate 3 having the film 14 formed withthe openings 15 by a plasma CVD method, and is heated at 450° C. for atleast 30 minutes to reduce the amount of hydrogen contained in the a-Sifilm to 1 atomic % at the most.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9C, the a-Si film 11 is thermally annealed at atemperature equal to or less than 600° C. to transform the a-Si film 11into the p-Si film by solid-phase growth. Initially the a-Si film 11underlying the film 14 is transformed into the p-Si film 16 (during thisprocess the film 14 is absorbed by the p-Si film 16), and then thelateral growth of crystalline grains, i.e. the above-described MILCoccurs in the region not covered with the film 14. Reference numeral 17denote large crystalline grains produced by the MILC.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9D, another a-Si film 18 of at least 20 nm inthickness is formed on the film formed as shown in FIG. 9C by a plasmaCVD method, and then is heated at 450° C. for at least 30 minutes toreduce the amount of hydrogen contained in the a-Si film to 1 atomic %at the most.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9E, XeCl excimer laser of 308 nm in wavelength orKrF excimer laser of 248 nm in wavelength (not shown) is irradiated ontothe a-Si film 18 to transform the a-Si film 18 into the p-Si film toform a region corresponding to the p-Si island 1.

Then the p-Si film 21 surrounding the p-Si island 1 is removed by aphotolithography technique to provide the shape as shown in FIG. 9F.

Then the thus obtained p-Si island 1 is processed to complete the p-SiTFT 100 shown in FIG. 1A by using known techniques. The p-Si film 16 inFIG. 9F corresponds to the conductive film 2 in FIG. 1A.

As still another alternative, the process steps of forming a film madeof metal or metallic silicide and having the openings 15 can be repeatedtwice with the process of forming the a-Si film interposed therebetween,that is, the two films made of metal or metallic silicide can bedisposed to sandwich the a-Si film. The following explains thisalternative.

Initially, as shown in FIG. 10A, a buffer layer 8 made of SiO₂ is formedon the insulating substrate 3 made of glass, then a film 14 made oftungsten, tungsten silicide, or metals such as Au, Al, Sb, Pd and Ni,for example, is formed at a region A corresponding to the peripheralcircuit on the insulating substrate 3 and an opening 15A correspondingto a TFT region is made in the film 14A by a photolithography technique.

Then, as shown in FIG. 10B, a-Si film 11 of 20 nm at the most inthickness is formed at the region A corresponding to the peripheralcircuit and a region B corresponding to the pixel area by a plasma CVDmethod, and is heated at 450+ C. for at least 30 minutes to reduce theamount of hydrogen contained in the a-Si film 11 to 1 atomic % at themost.

Then, as shown in FIG. 10C, a film 114 made of metals such as Au, Al,Sb, Pd and Ni is formed at the regions A and B corresponding to theperipheral circuit and the pixel area, respectively, on the insulatingsubstrate 3, and an opening 115A coincident with the opening 15A is madein the region A by a photolithography technique and an opening 115Bcorresponding to the pixel-switching TFT region is made in the region Bby a photolithography technique. Then the a-Si film 11 is thermallyannealed at a temperature equal to or less than 600° C. to transform thea-Si film 11 into the p-Si film by solid-phase growth. The subsequentprocess steps are the same as those with the previous embodiments.

EXAMPLE

Initially a region of 5 mm in width for the peripheral circuit isdefined at the periphery outside of the pixel area of the 13-inchdiagonal SXGA liquid crystal display panel (1024×1280 pixels). Then atungsten film of 50 nm in thickness is formed over the entire surface ofthe insulating substrate made of glass, a Pd film of 1 nm in thicknessis formed over the tungsten film, and then the openings eachaccommodating a transistor are made in the two metal films in accordancewith the arrangement of the p-Si islands for transistors.

Then a first a-Si film of 20 nm in thickness is formed over the films bya low pressure CVD method, and is thermally annealed at 550° C. forthree hours to transform the first a-Si film into the polycrystallinefilm. Next a second a-Si film of 50 nm in thickness is formed over thepolycrystalline film by a plasma CVD method and is dehydrogenated bybeing heated at 450° C. for an hour in nitrogen.

XeCl excimer laser of 308 nm in wavelength is irradiated onto the seconda-Si film to transform the second a-Si film into the polycrystallinefilm. Laser crystallization of the pixel area is performed separatelyfrom that of the peripheral circuit area.

The pixel area is irradiated by using an illuminating system whichilluminates an elemental area in the form of a slit of 100 μm in widthand 250 mm in length. The center line of the 100 μm width of the slit isaligned with the center of a pixel-switching transistor and the longsides of the slit is aligned parallel to the gate signal lines (see FIG.13). The laser is irradiated onto the substrate mounted on the stage atrest with ten shots each having fluence of 300 mJ/cm² at one position,moving the stage a distance equal to a pitch of pixels in a source-draindirection at a time.

The peripheral circuit area is irradiated by using an imaging opticalsystem which illuminates an elemental area in the form of a rectangle of5×18 mm². The laser is irradiated onto the substrate mounted on thestage at rest with five shots each having fluence of 300 mJ/cm² at oneposition, moving the stage a distance of 18 mm in a direction of theperiphery of the peripheral circuit at a time.

Then, the substrate of the TFT liquid crystal panel is completed afterthe process steps such as forming the gate oxide film on the p-Si filmformed as above by a plasma CVD, forming the gate electrodes, formingthe source and drain regions by ion implantation into the p-Si film andforming interlayer insulating films, contact holes and wirings.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a driver circuit constituting a peripheralcircuit of the liquid crystal display panel. Reference numeral 71denotes a timing control circuit, 72 is a gray scale-source voltagecircuit, 73 is a common-electrode voltage circuit, 74 is a power supplycircuit, 75 is a source driver, 76 is a gate power supply circuit and 77is a gate driver.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are block diagrams for source drivers of FIG. 11corresponding to one bit data, FIG. 12A being that of a digital driverand FIG. 12B being that of an analog driver.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a pixel and its vicinity in a vertical-field(twisted nematic) and active matrix addressing type color liquid crystaldisplay panel to which the present invention is applicable, and FIG. 14is a cross-sectional view of the pixel and its vicinity taken along theline XIV—XIV of FIG. 13.

As shown in FIG. 13, each pixel is arranged in an area defined by twoadjacent scanning signal lines GL (also referred to as gate signal linesor horizontal signal lines) and two adjacent video signal lines DL (alsoreferred to as drain signal lines or vertical signal lines).

Each pixel includes two thin film transistors TFT1, TFT2, a transparentpixel electrode ITO1 and a holding capacitor Cadd. The scanning signallines GL extend in a left-right direction in FIG. 13 and are arrangedplurally in a top-bottom direction in FIG. 13. The video signal lines DLextend in the top-bottom direction and are arranged plurally in theleft-right direction. Reference characters SD1 and SD2 denote source anddrain electrodes, respectively, GT is a gate electrode, FIL is a colorfilter and BM is a black matrix.

As shown in FIG. 14, on a lower transparent glass substrate SUB1 whichis placed under a liquid crystal layer LC, a thin film transistor TFTand a transparent pixel electrode ITO1 are formed, and on an uppertransparent glass substrate SUB2 a color filter FIL, and alight-blocking black matrix pattern BM are formed. The upper and lowertransparent glass substrates SUB1, SUB2 are coated with silicon oxidefilms SIO on both sides thereof by dipping treatment.

The light-blocking layer BM, color filters FIL, a protective film PSV2,a transparent common pixel electrode ITO2 (COM) and an upper alignmentfilm ORI2 are formed in this order on the inner surface of the uppertransparent glass substrate SUB2 on the liquid crystal layer LC sidethereof. Reference characters POL1, POL2 denote polarizers, PSV1 is aprotective film, ORI1 is a lower alignment film, GI is a gate insulatingfilm, AOF is an anodized film and AS is a semiconductor layer.

FIG. 15 is an exploded perspective view of an active-matrix, flip-chiptype color liquid crystal display module (an LCD) MDL to which thepresent invention is applicable. Reference character SHD designates ametal shield case (referred to a metal frame); WD is a display window;SPC1 to SPC4 are insulating spacers; FPC1 and FPC2 are folded multilayerflexible circuit boards (FPC1 is the circuit board for gate drive andFPC 2 is the circuit board for drain drive); PCB is an interface circuitboard; ASB is an assembled liquid crystal display element with thedriver circuit boards; PNL is a liquid crystal display element havingdriver ICs mounted on one of a pair of transparent insulating substratesoverlapped and fixed with a spacing therebetween (also referred to as aliquid crystal display panel); GC1 and GC2 are rubber cushions; PRS aretwo prismatic sheets; SPS is a light-diffusing sheet; GLB is a lightguide; RFS is a reflecting sheet; MCA is a lower case (a mold case)integrally molded; LP is a fluorescent lamp; LPC1 and LPC2 are lampcables; LCT is a connector for an inverter power source; and GB is arubber bush for holding the fluorescent lamp. These components arestacked in the relationship as shown in FIG. 15 to assemble the liquidcrystal display module MDL. Reference characters LS and BL denotes alight reflector and a backlight, respectively.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a notebook personal computer or a wordprocessor incorporating the liquid crystal display module of FIG. 15.

The present invention has been explained in detail by using the aboveembodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the aboveembodiments and it will be obvious to those skilled in the art thatvarious changes and modifications can be made to the above embodimentswithout departing from the nature and spirits of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiments, Si is used, but othersemiconductor materials such as germanium and silicon germanium alloycan be used instead.

The present invention is not limited to liquid crystal display devices,but is also applicable to semiconductor devices having a TFT of the SOIstructure.

In the case where the present invention is applied to the liquid crystaldisplay devices, the present invention is also applicable to the liquidcrystal display devices of the simple matrix type, the vertical field(twisted nematic) active matrix type, the in-plane switching activematrix type or the COG (Chip-On-Glass).

As explained above, the present invention provides a high-performancepolycrystalline TFT having a polycrystalline film uniform in orientationof crystalline grains and containing few unwanted impurities introducedin grain boundaries and a channel region of the TFTs formed of apolycrystalline film comprising a small number of crystalline grainseach having a diameter larger than a length of a channel of the TFTs andeach having a grain boundary thereof aligned parallel with asource-drain direction of the TFTS. In the structure of the SOI, thesubstrate potential is established such that the charges accumulated inthe end portions of the drain and source regions and the central portionof the channel can be extracted efficiently to provide high-performancetransistors. And the present invention realize the high-definitionliquid crystal display panel with the driver circuits and the controlcircuits integrally formed on the substrate of the display panel.

What is claimed is:
 1. A semiconductor device having a thin filmtransistor comprising: an insulating substrate, an island made of apolycrystalline semiconductor material and disposed on said insulatingsubstrate, a conductive layer made of said polycrystalline semiconductormaterial and at least one of metals and metallic silicides andsurrounding said island, a source region and a drain region spaced fromsaid source region, said source region and said drain region beingformed in said island, a gate electrode disposed on said island with aninsulating film interposed between said island and said gate electrode,said gate facing a spacing between said source region and said drainregion, wherein said polycrystalline semiconductor material forming saidisland and said conductive layer are fabricated by initially annealing afirst amorphous semiconductor material deposited on said insulatingsubstrate with a crystallization-inducing layer made of said at leastone of metals and metallic silicides and having a hole corresponding tosaid island, said crystallization-inducing layer being disposed on asurface of said amorphous semiconductor material on at least one of asubstrate side thereof and a side thereof opposite from said substrateside, and then by depositing a second amorphous semiconductor materialon said first amorphous semiconductor and annealing said secondamorphous semiconductor material.
 2. A liquid crystal display devicehaving a liquid crystal panel comprising a pair of insulatingsubstrates, a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between said pair ofinsulating substrates, a plurality of pixels formed between said pair ofinsulating substrates and a peripheral circuit for driving saidplurality of pixels and disposed at a periphery of at least one of saidpair of insulating substrates, said peripheral circuit including a thinfilm transistor comprising: an insulating substrate, an island made of apolycrystalline semiconductor material and disposed on said insulatingsubstrate, a conductive layer made of said polycrystalline semiconductormaterial and at least one of metals and metallic silicides andsurrounding said island, a source region and a drain region spaced fromsaid source region, said source region and said drain region beingformed in said island, a gate electrode disposed on said island with aninsulating film interposed between said island and said gate electrode,said gate facing a spacing between said source region and said drainregion, wherein said polycrystalline semiconductor material forming saidisland and said conductive layer are fabricated by initially annealing afirst amorphous semiconductor material deposited on said insulatingsubstrate with a crystallization-inducing layer made of said at leastone of metals and metallic silicides and having a hole corresponding tosaid island, said crystallization-inducing layer being disposed on asurface of said amorphous semiconductor material on at least one of asubstrate side thereof and a side thereof opposite from said substrateside, and then by depositing a second amorphous semiconductor materialon said first amorphous semiconductor and annealing said secondamorphous semiconductor material.
 3. A liquid crystal display deviceaccording to claim 2, wherein a channel region formed between saidsource region and said drain region in said island of a polycrystallinesemiconductor material is formed by grains of said polycrystallinesemiconductor material of a size of at least 3 μm in diameter and eachof said grains extending a distance of at least 0.5 μm outwardly fromboth edges of said gate electrode in a direction of said source regionto said drain region.